I have been wont to stalk bumble bees and butterflies through fields, but it is much harder (and poor trail ethos) to chase a butterfly across the tundra. I recently hiked above the treeline in the Indian Peaks Wilderness in the Rockies, and I was struck by how many beautiful marked white butterflies I saw dashing and fluttering about the tundra near 11,000 feet. They were flying about everywhere about a foot or maybe two off the ground. I was charmed. I utterly rejoiced when one finally, finally deigned to stop its fly about and rest near the trail and let me take its picture.
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Latin Texts for Teaching the Gladiator Riot of Pompeii
This collection of Latin texts describes the gladiator riot at Pompeii in 59 C.E. They include an intermediate-level reading about the riot as well as tiers preparing students to read Tacitus’ account of the riot in Book XIV of his Annals. My latest novella, Atrox Caedes, is set on the day of this riot in Pompeii, and I first read Tacitus’ description of the riot while I was preparing for and researching the novella.
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Erucula: Fabula Metamorphosis
Ērūcula: Fābula Metamorphōsis tells the tale of one little caterpillar’s joy and pride with each new stage of its metamorphosis. After all, Erucula is easily the leader of all other caterpillars; it even wears a crown! As Erucula muses about its own life, it describes the lives of the other caterpillars that crawl about the forests of Surinam. Each caterpillar has its own chrysalis and becomes a unique butterfly or moth. This novella uses the vibrant vocabulary and images that Maria Sibylla Merian herself used to describe the lifecycle of insects in her book Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium, which she published in 1705
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Nuptiae Romanae: Roman Marriages
This reading describes Nuptiae Romanae, Roman marriages, and laws pertaining to Roman marriages in simpler Latin that is suitable for use in Latin III or IV classrooms. In particular, this reading discusses the marriage ceremony, Augustan laws on marriage and on procreation, marriage in manu, concubinage, and women in comedy. Teachers can provide the entire reading or choose which sections to provide students. This reading would be a good complement for students who are reading Ira Veneris because Venus argues the marriage is illegitimate because Psyche is mortal while Cupid is immortal. Essentially, Venus argues that they are of different classes. Similarly, this reading would complement the Mostellaria where Bucco…
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Vita Plauti: A Biography of Plautus in Latin
Students who are preparing to read one of Plautus’ plays can read this biography of Plautus in Latin. It provides background knowledge of his life, his corpus of writings, and describes Roman comedy. If students are preparing to read the Mostellaria, starting with this biography of Plautus in Latin will help provide some important background knowledge without straying from the target language.
